The Fool's Rhapsody
by Gracie-luu
Summary: "You cause me concern." Fury said plainly, sliding the folder closer. Fury watched her as she read the information, an increasing look of alarm making its way onto her face. When she got to the last page she put the file down, closing it quickly. "Apparently, you aren't the only one I cause concern for. Does the government have files like this on everyone? Or am I just special?"
1. Chapter 1

_-Chapter One-_

* * *

Director Nick Fury watched with mixed feelings of confusion and disappointment as yet another interrogator sped out of the borrowed interview room. This one, a middle-aged man who had been recruited for his tenure in Iraq, looked even more spooked than the last. He avoided Fury beyond the obligatory need to tell him that he would not be able to continue with the woman. The soldier had the decency to look ashamed underneath his discomfort as he left the room without another word. Fury had hoped the soldier would be able to make some headway with the obstinate woman, girl more like, currently glaring at the two sided glass. Apparently he had been wrong.

It was a fact that did not sit well with him.

It was for that reason that Fury chose to interrogate her himself. He rolled his shoulders back, tucking her file under his arm, before he stepped into the obscenely bright room. She did not look up, choosing instead to find a sudden fascination in her nubby fingernails.

"What did you do?"

Nick Fury folded his arms over his chest, narrowing his one good eye at the young woman avoiding his gaze defiantly.

"I didn't do anything." She said, eyes moving away from her hands to focus on the air conditioning duct that ran along the length of the room. She gazed at the small ice crystals that formed on the vent a bit more closely than was necessary before she finally turned to look at him. "I hope you realize that I'm not going to talk just because the room is cold." All the same, she rubbed her goose pimpled flesh when she thought he wasn't looking. she rubbed her hands along her bare arms, ignoring the purplish color of cold hands. It was his intention to make her as uncomfortable as possible so he did not find it in himself to care that she was a bit chilly.

Fury took a seat across from her, dropping the file he had been holding on the table. Her eyes slid from his face down to the manila folder, widening when she saw her name printed brazenly across the front in red letters. She forced her expression to become neutral after the shock registered on her face. Fury noticed, with a small amount of satisfaction, that she was still capable of being surprised, despite everything.

"You cause me concern." Fury said plainly, sliding the folder closer. She seemed conflicted for a moment, fingers twitching, before she finally reached a shaking hand forward to open her file. Fury watched her as she read the information, an ever increasing look of alarm sliding its way onto her face. She looked pale in the fluorescent lighting of the room, and slightly sickly. When she got to the last page she put the file down, closing it before she could ponder it further.

"Apparently, you aren't the only one I cause concern for. Does the government have files like this on everyone? Or am I just special?"

"Special is one way of putting it."

"But it isn't the way you would put it?"

There was a defiance in her voice that Fury did not like.

"No, no I would not."

"How would you classify it?" She asked, tilting her head to the side enough to cause her hair to swing over her shoulder. She made a show to look curious as to what he would say, but Fury knew better than to fall for it.

"Bothersome, at best. Problematic, at worst."

"Nick…"

"Director Fury would do." Fury corrected, noting the way her nose scrunched.

"I am assuming it is problematic for you specifically."

"And for you." Fury said. "I do not think I should need to tell you, you especially, what sort of trouble you are in."

"Enlighten me, Director Fury." She emphasized his title in a mocking manner.

"Miss Gudrun," Her mouth twitched at the use of her last name. "Now is not the time and place…"

"Omaha, you mean."

"Omaha." Fury did not question why she knew where she was, despite the fact that she shouldn't even know what state she was in, let alone which city.

"A bit bleak, wouldn't you say?" She asked, leaning forward on her elbows. Her pale eyes flashed in the intense light of the room with the movement. Fury wondered what it was about her that caused three of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best interrogators to leave after only an hour or so in her presence. It wasn't her size, which was unimpressive at best, nor was it her voice, which was accented in a way that most would consider to be charming.

"Stop deflecting."

"You haven't asked me any real questions." She replied, sliding the folder back towards him. "Or told me anything I don't already know."

"I haven't told you anything at all." Fury said, ignoring the papers she was giving back to him.

"You haven't, but they have." She said, leaning back in the chair, seemingly bored with the entire conversation.

"And what exactly did they tell you?" Fury asked, hoping that he might be getting to the important part, the part he cared about. She looked at him for a long moment, eyes narrowing into slits.

"Everything." She finally said, an odd look on her small face. "They told me everything."

"Why don't we start at the beginning then? Tell me what you know about the incident in New Mexico."

* * *

**Hello everybody! **

**This is a project that popped into my mind recently and I couldn't wait to begin it to see where it takes me. I would love to hear what you think! This chapter is much shorter than the length of the actual chapters as it is just a prologue, of sorts. If you have any questions I would be totally willing to answer them in a PM. **

**Anyway, reviews are always appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

_-Chapter Two-_

* * *

"I passed a kidney stone yesterday."

Avery looked up from digging through her wallet for her last wayward twenty, blinking rapidly. The saleswoman smiled brightly at her, entirely unaware of the inappropriateness of what she had just said. She stared at Avery for a moment too long before she looked down at the pile of stuff on the counter. "I kept it. It was my third one this year." The woman, Dolores according to her nametag, began to bag up Avery's small pile of toiletry refills. "I think I might start a collection."

"That's," Avery paused, the twenty completely forgotten. "That's really nice."

Dolores smiled even brighter. "Thanks, sweetie."

Avery pointedly looked away from the woman as she bagged up her items. She looked around the small store, taking note of the minimal amount of products. It was a smelly place, the kind that she generally liked to avoid. She had noticed, during her short time perusing the aisles, that it had a rather large selection of pickled foods, among other equally odd things. She imagined the smell was coming from the unfortunate combination of moldy carpets and Dolores' overwhelming odor of a cat-lady.

"Cash or credit?"

Avery, who had been eyeing a rubber alien stapled to the wall with dissatisfaction, turned back to Dolores. "I'm sorry?"

"Cash or credit." Dolores had the nerve to look at Avery like she was the looney one.

"Cash." Avery handed over the crumpled up twenty, avoiding eye contact pointedly.

"So, are you staying in town or just passing through?" Avery wished, rather suddenly, that she wasn't morally and socially obligated to engage in small talk. She found it to be rather useless and, more often than not, horribly uncomfortable. "I would hope you are just passing through. I've never cared for the tourists who come through here. All a bunch of nonbelieving ninny's, the lot of them." Avery rolled her eyes, extending her hand out for the change that Dolores had completely forgotten about. "You know, it's real. All of it. I've been probed. You can't make that sort of thing up, now can you."

"I'm late for work, so if you could…"

"So you are sticking around, then?"

"Unfortunately."

"You'll have to come to one of our UFO watch parties. They're a real hoot."

"I can only imagine." Avery scratched her head awkwardly, wishing nothing more than to never speak to the woman again in her entire life. She hadn't been to a party that had been described as a hoot before and she had no plans of changing that anytime soon.

Dolores finally handed Avery her change with grubby hands that were stained from what Avery assumed were years of cigarette abuse. She noticed that her nails were covered in fluorescent pink nail polish, with a small green alien standing out prominently on her thumb nail. Avery couldn't exactly say she was surprised. She took her change, trying her best to avoid making contact with the woman. She grabbed her plastic bag of stuff, fully planning on walking out of the small store without saying another word. She was stopped by Dolores.

"I'll see you around, sweetie."

Avery certainly hoped not.

She stepped outside the small general store and onto the main street. She hoped, rather sincerely, that the smell of cat-lady hadn't stuck to her. It wouldn't bode well for her first day of work. They had already done her a favor by hiring her, she didn't need to go and offend the customers on her first day. She glanced around her, trying to remember which direction the restaurant was in. It all looked the same to her, what with it's over the top use of alien décor. She began to walk in the direction that looked vaguely correct to her. She ignored the eccentrically dressed locals as they waved at her. She did not want them to think that she wanted to engage in small talk with them. It never turned out the way she had wanted. People were always a bit too honest with her, a bit too forthcoming for her taste. The result was her being burned out on the entire concept of interacting with other human beings as whole.

Avery ducked her head, walking along in the blistering sun for what felt like hours before she finally arrived at the doors of the restaurant she was gainfully employed at as of three days ago.

It was just like every other place in the town; garishly decorated with aliens and overflowing with fanny-packed tourists of the overweight variety. The one redeeming feature, in her eyes, was the name. _The Restaurant at the End of the Universe _had caught her eye when she had first pulled into town four days ago. Douglas Adams had been one of her personal favorites growing up. The clever name only went so far, however. The inside was still painted with shoddy stars and cheesy little green men. Her stomach squirmed at the thought.

Money was money, even if it did come from a bunch of looney birds. She could only hope the crazy didn't rub off on her. She didn't have plans to stay long enough on the off chance that it did so she didn't fear too much.

"Avery!" Avery looked up, not having realized how long she had been standing outside the double glass doors. Her new manager, a balding man named Wayne, seemed to have seen one too many kids puking on his restaurant's black and white linoleum floors to put up with her shenanigans. He held the door open for her, gesturing with a wave of his hairy arm for her to floor him inside. "You're blocking the way for paying customers."

Avery did not dignify him with a response.

"You'll need to get changed into your uniform. Nancy, in the back, will show you how to do your hair. Come find me when you're done."

He left her standing in the middle of the crowded restaurant. She looked around for a moment, wondering for what felt like the hundredth time why she decided that the restaurant industry was the best choice for someone who liked to avoid people, before she finally maneuvered her way into the back to find Nancy.

Nancy was about as bland as they came. She was a plump woman who wore a bit too much makeup and drank a bit too much on the job. Avery thought she might combust if she stood too close to an open flame, but she kept that opinion to herself. Nancy smiled when she saw Avery. It was an awkward gesture that made the fat on her face pull up in odd ways. Avery realized, in that moment of judging Nancy, that she might have been alone for a bit too long. She had forgotten her lessons on polite human interaction.

"Oh, sug you'll fill out that dress nicely." Nancy eyed her up and down. "Size seven I'd guess."

"How did you know?" Avery asked, forcing herself to make an effort with the smiling woman.

"I have enough lovers to know how to spot a seven when I see one." Avery coughed, being reminded once again why she generally avoided talking to people.

"Don't worry. You aren't my type."

"I'm flattered."

"I think we'll be friends, me and you." Nancy smiled once again, reaching over to pat Avery on the shoulder. Avery could think of nothing to say besides laughing halfheartedly in response.

Nancy gave her a dress, a green atrocity with a too short hemline, and showed her how to pull her hair back into a tight ponytail before she sent her back to begin her first shift. Avery supposed Nancy wasn't so bad. Her honesty wasn't as alarming as others and there were worst things than being told you filled out a dress nicely. It usually started out like that though, which is why Avery was hesitant. People had secrets that they didn't mind sharing and they had secrets that were secrets for a reason.

Around Avery there seemed to be no distinction.

* * *

Two shifts and 45 dollars in tips later, Avery found herself sitting on the counter nursing her wounds with a small slice of pie. Working in the restaurant industry, even for a mere six hours, left one doubting that there was any decency left in humanity in the slightest.

"Seven, if you keep eating that pie you'll get fat." Avery looked up, annoyed that she wasn't allowed to eat her dessert in peace. Nancy seemed as chipper as ever, even going so far as to swipe some of the whipped cream from the side of Avery's plate. "There's some stragglers you need to take care of, at table six."

"Why me?" Avery asked, pulling her plate away from Nancy before she could take more of it.

"Because I don't want to."

Avery stood up, handing her half eaten piece of pie to Nancy. She wanted to get out of her scratchy dress as fast as possible. She thought the dye was cheap enough to run when it came in contact with liquid, so she was certain her back was now vaguely green from her sweat. She pushed the swinging doors, trying to remember which table was six when she saw them. There were three of them, all dressed in clothes that suggested they had spent their time out in the dessert. All of their plates were empty and a bit of change was sitting on the table indicating that they had already paid. The youngest of the three was talking loudly about something that seemed to annoy the other two. She couldn't be bothered to care.

Avery didn't care either, incidentally.

She walked over to them, fixing her face into what she hoped was a stern yet polite expression.

"I don't understand why you thought I would like this place, Darcy." The other brunette spoke up.

"I thought you might enjoy the alieny theme."

"It's not…"

"I understand they aren't all dreamboats, but they are from outer space so they have to get brownie points for trying."

"Blow-up aliens in a cheap roadside dinner do not get brownie points."

"Well they don't with that attitude."

"Darcy." The other brunette seemed worn out. Avery couldn't blame her if the other woman, Darcy, was always like that. "I just want to go back to…"

"Moping. You want to go back to moping. When Thor comes back he isn't going to like all that time you've been spending with Ben & Jerry."

The third person, an older man, looked up from his lap. He glanced around the restaurant, eyes widening when he saw Avery standing by the kitchen, listening intently to what they were saying. He elbowed the talkative one. She looked offended for a moment, before she too saw Avery.

"Hi." She said a bit too loudly. "Nice dress."

"We're closing up."

"Not one for small talk, are you?" Avery took a few steps towards them, wishing that they would choose to get up and leave before she needed to say something more forceful. "Apparently not."

"Look, we need to shut off the lights."

"We're leaving." The tired looking brunette said, standing up.

"Do you serve alcohol? She's had a rough day." Darcy said, forcing the other one to sit back down with a rough yank.

"We do, but like I said…"

"Jane's alien boyfriend, Thor, this super hunky Asgardian, promised he'd come back and he hasn't been seen for three months. We spent the entire day in the blazing hot sun looking for signs and found nothing. Zilch. Bupkiss." She paused when she saw the look she was getting from both her dinner companions and Avery. "Why did I just tell you that?"

Avery shook her head, hoping that Darcy was crazy. Otherwise, the people in this town weren't as misguided as Avery originally thought.

"Darcy." The other woman, Jane, hissed angrily. "We're leaving. Ignore everything she just said. It's true, but ignore it."

The man looked at the two of them like they had suddenly spouted three heads. "Oh my god. Why…"

Avery wasn't quite sure how she was supposed to respond to them. In all of her life, in all of her twenty-two and a half years, never once had someone told her something so important, something so uncomfortably life-changing. She glanced down at her dress, hoping the obnoxious color of it would bring her back to the conversation and topic at hand. She wanted nothing more than to return to her dingy motel room and pretend she had heard none of what had just been said.

"How are you doing this?"

The accusatory look on Jane's face alarmed Avery. She immediately took a step back. "I didn't do anything."

"Yes, yes you did. I would never tell someone something like that." Jane seemed simultaneously anger and confused. "It's a…"

"I get it. Trust me, I get it. It's a secret. It's yours. Why don't you three just go and we'll forget this ever happened."

"No. How did you do that?" Jane seemed genuinely angry. Avery shock her head, hoping that Nancy, or even Wayne, would notice the commotion out front. She didn't imagine they would. Wayne was probably busy counting money while Nancy was too busy having a love affair with a piece of pie. "Tell me what you did to make me and Darcy tell you that."

"I," Avery held her hands up in front of her. This was the exact sort of thing that made her wish to live her life away from people. They said uncomfortable things, kept dirty, alarming secrets. "I didn't do anything. I swear, not intentionally."

Jane did not seem convinced.

"What are you?" She asked with conviction.

"I…"

"What are you?" She asked again, enunciating every single word.

Avery didn't know how to respond. No one had ever noticed it before. No one had ever asked about the odd amount of honesty that always seemed to be following her wherever she went. Jane was the first person to ever notice, and Avery found, now that she was confronted with explaining the anomaly that she was, she had no genuine way to answer her. She imagined it was because, despite having lived with it for twenty-two and a half years, she still hadn't figured it out for herself.

She still didn't know what she was and that thought scared her more than she cared to admit.

* * *

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or alerted on the last chapter! I love hearing what you think! I also love to answer any and (mostly) all questions so don't be shy.:)**

**REVIEW!** **:)**


	3. Chapter 3

_-Chapter Three-_

* * *

"You spin a nice story, but I hope you don't honestly expect me to believe you." Avery picked at her cuticles, allowing herself to look offended for a moment before she gave up the charade entirely. "Now, the truth, if you don't mind."

"Look Nick,"

"Director Fury."

"I don't really think I'm going to tell you, so you might as well give up now before you waste any more of your time." Avery said very plainly, hoping that they would let her go.

Director Fury nodded his head, seeming to think over something. There was an awkward silence, during which Avery did her absolute best to look un-phased by the situation she found herself in. In general, and Avery tended to be a person who relished in generalities, interrogation rooms were not comfortable. This one seemed like it was ripped right of the screen of a cheesy buddy cop movie. She even thought she picked up the smell of stale coffee and outdated cleaner lingering.

Director Fury cleared his throat, forcing her attention back to him.

"Miss Gudrun, if you don't start cooperating, things will go very badly for you, very quickly."

"I have rights." Avery said, hoping to somehow divert his attention. "You can't keep me here for no reason. It's unconstitutional." Even as she said it it sounded like a flimsy attempt at reasoning coming from an even flimsier human.

The only response Fury deemed appropriate was laughing at her. She failed to see what was so funny, causing her shift uncomfortably in her seat. He leaned back in his seat, folding his arms over his chest as he continued laughing in a deep baritone that in other circumstances would seem pleasant. As it were, Avery thought he looked very much like a stereotypical super villain, eye-patch and all. After what felt like an eternity he finally stopped laughing, at her she presumed, and once again refocused his attention on her.

"We aren't the U.S. government, Miss Gudrun. Our scope is a bit bigger than that, and we are a hell of a lot more resourceful."

"You don't have to laugh." Avery hated how much she sounded like a toddler. "It's not like I use flash cards to brush up on my secret agencies every night just in case it's a Jeopardy question."

"I was under the impression that you already knew. You said so yourself. 'They told me everything.' I believe it was."

"I'm not a mind reader." Avery had officially lost all of her patience. "It doesn't work that way."

"Explain, then." Fury prompted. His face was devoid of expression despite having just effectively laughed at her stupidity. "Tell me how it works."

"Do I get to leave?" She asked, hoping beyond a hope that he would say yes. With every moment that passed it became more and more clear that her usual stubbornness wasn't going to work. No matter how long she sat there, refusing to tell them anything, she imagined they could sit there longer. They had a bathroom after all, and she didn't. One could only be stubborn for so long before it switched towards being outright stupid. "If I tell you, will you let me go?"

Avery had always prided herself on being able to toe the line, as it were. She sat up straighter, making up her mind.

"Depends on what you tell me."

"I guess I'll start when I turned seven then."

* * *

"_Avery Marie Gudrun!" _

_Seven year old Avery looked up from where she was currently melting plastic aliens on the steamy sidewalk. The blue one, the one she had dubbed Arthur, was already losing shape. His little fingers ran together in a small plastic puddle, sticking to the cement. She dropped the pink one next to the blue one, hoping that eventually they would melt together and create a blob of purplish plastic. She had lost track of how long she had been sitting outside in the blazing sun. Long enough to be missed, apparently. _

"_Avery! You stop ignoring me this instant!" Avery looked down at the little aliens for a moment, contemplating pretending she had spontaneously lost the ability to hear, before she lifted herself off the dying grass. Her teacher, Mrs. Hibley, did not look impressed. She marched over to her, fanning herself with her large hand, before she stopped in front of Avery. "We have been looking for you for hours. We almost had to call your mother." _

_Mrs. Hibley said it as if it was a threat. _

"_Well?" She crossed her very large arms over her equally large chest. "What do you have to say for yourself?" Avery looked down at the little aliens again. "Oh, Avery. Why must we go through this every time?" Avery didn't have an answer. Mrs. Hibley reached down to grab Avery by the hand. Avery squirmed, hating the feeling of Mrs. Hibley's sweating hands on her own. It was the middle of September in southern New Mexico and impossibly hot. Avery could see the ever present moisture on her teacher's upper lip increasing with every extra moment they spent outside. "Timothy doesn't mean anything by what he says, Avery. He's just being a boy." _

_Avery did not have the guts to tell her teacher that she was wrong. _

"_Honestly, its children like you that make me regret becoming a teacher. My husband, the lazy so-and-so, is emotionally needy enough." It took Mrs. Hibley approximately half a moment to realize what she had just said. It took Avery less than that to remove her hand from her teacher's. Mrs. Hibley had a mixture of shock on her face and true regret. "Oh, I don't know what came over me."_

* * *

"It started with touches?" Fury asked, opening up her file to take notes.

"I guess. The boy, Timothy, had been pulling my hair so I had reached a hand over to shove him, and he told me something truly awful when I touched him." Avery said, discomfort written across her face.

"Elaborate."

"No." It was hard enough for Avery having to divulge something she had been guarding for so long to a man that apparently had never heard of wearing anything that didn't come in black leather. She was not willing to start spouting out all of the horrible things she had heard over the years as well. "He was a creepy little kid and he said creepy little kid things."

"So, when you touched them they started telling you the truth?" Fury asked, clearly unimpressed with her unwillingness to tell him everything.

"I thought that at first." Fury sighed at her unhelpful answer. "But, I was only seven so I was bit taken by the idea that I might have been a human lie detector."

"But you weren't, aren't."

"No. Not in the slightest."

"Miss Gudrun,"

"I'm getting there. Calm down."

* * *

"_Mom! It happened again today!" Avery dropped her backpack on the ground, kicking off her worn out converse as she went. She could hear her mom singing in the kitchen. The sounds of Starship, her mother's favorite band for some odd reason, playing from the old radio in the crackly way that Avery was convinced her mother liked the sound of. We Built This City, a song that Avery was sure she would be able to recite in her sleep, was drowned out by her mother's obnoxiously loud singing. _

"_Mom!" _

"_What!" There was a sound of frantic steps, followed by a click that killed the music. Avery rolled her eyes, leaning against the wall as she waited for her mother to come bolting from the kitchen. "You aren't bleeding are you?" Her mother slid into the hallway, slipping on her mismatched socks. Her ratty t-shirt was covered in what appeared to be a very large amount of paint, and she was wearing her self-dubbed 'creativity pants'. She visibly relaxed when she saw Avery looking at her with a snarky look on her face. _

"_Why would I come home if I was bleeding?" Avery asked, walking towards her. _

"_Avie, you know better than to scream at me while I'm painting." Her mother, La as she had apparently named herself when she was three, reached out a paint covered hand to Avery. "Now what was it you were on about?" _

"_It happened again today." _

"_It? Like _It_ It?" _

"_What else would I be referring to?" Avery moved past her mother into the brightly lit kitchen. She wished she hadn't. It was a true disaster zone. Open paint containers were on every flat surface available. A canvas that seemed to take up half of the room perched on a rickety easel. Avery almost turned around to walk out when she was stopped by her mother's hands on her shoulders. She was certain she would have blue hand prints stained into her shirt, but she pointedly ignored that. _

"_We need a name for it." _

"_Like what? Avery's freakish talent? Or, why Avery always seems to be in the middle of uncomfortable situations? Or, even better, why is everybody so weird?" _

"_What happened?" Her mother opened the fridge as Avery perched herself carefully on the dirty paint stool. She was looking forward to when her mother moved on to a less messy way of expressing herself. Last month it had been interpretive dance. She hoped for something like didgeridoo lessons next time. Avery had already sat in enough paint buckets for her liking. _

"_Same old, same old." Avery took the cookie her mother was plying her with, shoving it into her mouth moodily. _

"_Avie." _

"_Cameron, you know that weird kid with glasses that cover all of his face? He said he walked in on his mother having an affair with his uncle. I wasn't even touching him. We were sitting next to each other in the library and he just starts babbling about it." Her mother was unusually quiet. "It's never happened like that before. I've always had to touch people." _

"_I wouldn't worry about it, Avery." _

"_But mom, it's progressing!" Avery stood up from her seat. "What if it keeps getting worse?"_

* * *

"And your mother didn't have an answer?" Fury was scribbling things down in her file, barely looking up at her. "She had nothing to tell you about your odd powers?" Avery didn't like them being called 'odd', but she chose not to comment on that.

"No."

"How old were you?"

"Thirteen." Avery remembered, very suddenly, how much she had hated being thirteen. It was the worst year of her life, for more reasons than one. She dug her fingernails into her palms, forcing her attention to move away from the painful memories.

"Why did you suddenly not need to touch people?" Fury asked, gaze drifting down to her clenched hands.

"I don't know. It just happened. One day I was avoiding touching people like the plague and the next day it didn't really matter."

"Is that what happened to Jane Foster?"

"Pardon?" Avery squeezed her hands even tighter.

"When you encountered the scientist Jane Foster in New Mexico three months ago, did you use this power on her? You no longer need to touch people in order to get them to tell the truth. Is that what you did to Jane Foster?"

"First of all, I didn't do anything to Jane. Second of all, I don't compel people to tell the truth." Avery said through gritted teeth. She glared at Director Fury with all the malice she could muster. "I already told you I wasn't a human lie detector."

"I am not playing games with you. I want answers, and I am no longer in the mood to wait."

"Were you ever in that mood in the first place?"

"Jane Foster, along with Darcy Lewis and Dr. Eric Selvig encountered you on the evening of March the 23rd, 11:30 p.m. They divulged top secret information that only a limited number of people are privileged enough to know. And yet, they told you without even knowing your name. Why is that?"

"I was in the middle of telling you the story. You don't have to get snappy."

"You are a very real threat, Miss Gudrun. Playing innocent will not help your case. Now you either start telling me the truth about yourself, or I will be forced to take more drastic measures." Director Fury closed the folder and threw it on the table. He tossed the pen on top of it with so much force the cap bounced off.

Avery took that as a physical representation of his general attitude towards her.

"What sort of measures?"

"The kind that you could easily compel me to tell you."

"I suppose." Avery saw Director Fury's upper lip twitch slightly.

"Can you control it?" He finally asked after a long moment. His one uncovered eye was appraising her in the sort of manner that people usually did when they trusted you about as far as they could throw you. She thought he might be able to throw her farther than he trusted her, but that was hardly relevant. Avery pondered for a moment about how to answer him. She hardly felt comfortable telling him the truth, in whole, but she felt even less comfortable keeping information from him. He seemed like he had the means to carry through on his threats, violent or otherwise.

"More than I used to be able to." She finally said, fully hating herself for even talking about it.

"Were you controlling it when you encountered Jane Foster?"

"No. She just came out of nowhere. I didn't think I would have to." Avery felt like the lights were suddenly much brighter than before, beating down on her in an intense manner. "I am right now though."

"And why is that?"

"People tend to dislike me. Something about spilling their secrets involuntarily makes them a bit touchy."

"I can imagine." Director Fury leaned back, re-crossing his arms over his chest. "Here's what's going to happen. You will tell no one what you conversed about with Miss Foster, you will not write it down, and you will not think about it from this point forward."

"You can't exactly control my thoughts."

"I can damn well try."

"Fine, I'll be silent as the grave. Can I go?"

"No. I'm afraid that's no longer an option for you, Miss Gudrun." Fury stood up, scooping up the folder to tuck under his arm as he went. "As much as it pains me to say, and I am sure I will regret not locking you up here and now far away from any and all human interaction, but it appears your encounter with Miss Foster was your unofficial application for employment."

"Excuse me?" Avery leaned back in her chair to get a better look at him.

"Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D."

* * *

**So I saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier and it gave me long term plans that I hadn't originally accounted for. I was planning on ending Avery's story after the Avengers plot ends, but apparently that won't be an option anymore. Ugh. Damn plot bunnies. I guess that might be good news for you readers. ;) **

**Anyway, as always thank you for the reviews! Keep em' coming. :) **


	4. Chapter 4

_-Chapter Four-_

* * *

Avery rubbed her hands over her butt, feeling her annoyance growing with each passing second. She pushed her hips out towards the mirror for a moment longer before she let out a sigh and turned her gaze away from her own backside.

"Are you done?"

"I don't understand how these pants can make my ass look enormous and yet somehow flat all at the same time." Avery chanced a glance at her reflection once again, only to instantly regret it.

"Budget cuts. We aren't going in uniform, so you can stop worrying about your ass."

"You could have told me that before I got dressed." Avery snorted in annoyance, reaching a hand down to pick up her equally unflattering S.H.I.E.L.D. issue jacket before she moved to her dresser to grab a change of clothes. He was wearing street clothes, ones that didn't make his posterior region look disgusting, she noticed, and had his bow and quiver strapped to his back. It was an odd contrast. She slipped into her bathroom and changed clothes quickly before she hurried back out. She slipped her leather jacket on, waiting for Clint to tell her why he was there. It wasn't as if he came to visit her voluntarily. No one did. Once Fury had debriefed them on her abilities they tended to avoid her, even though she hadn't done anything to them personally.

"So…"

"Natasha is on assignment. Looks like I'm stuck with you."

"You're very charming, you know." Avery was used to the less than enthusiastic reaction she got from most of the agents that were forced to interact with her. The job tended to attract people with more secrets than hairs on their heads, and Avery, as much as she tried to control it, tended to make those people wary. Clint Barton was no exception, although he wasn't as bad as some. She had only spoken to him twice before this instance, so she was a bit unsure of why he was there. The only people she interacted with on a regular basis were her instructor, Dr. Fitz, and Fury when he thought to grace her with his presence and check up on her progress. "Why do you need me? Fury hasn't let me leave base for two months. Why now?"

Clint, who had been busy picking at some of the tchotchkes Avery had scattered around her quarters while she was changing, ignored her question. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Where are we going?" Avery's hands twitched as she tried to fight the urge to just force him to tell her. "I mean, I might need a thicker jacket or maybe some sunscreen if we're hitting up the tropics."

"We aren't going to the tropics."

"Damn. And here I thought you had finally realized your feelings for me and were whisking me away to some undisclosed romantic vacation."

"Gudrun." Clint put the slinky he had been holding back on her standard issue nightstand.

"You can call me Avery, you know." Avery swung open the door to her closet, searching around until she saw her favorite pair of worn in leather boots. She pointedly ignored the annoyed sigh Clint gave when she sat on the ground to pull them onto her feet. She got the first one on before she realized that she had forgotten her socks. "Will you throw me a pair of socks?" Clint folded his arms over his chest, raising one of his eyebrows in an unimpressed manner. "Pretty please?"

He walked over to the single dresser she had begrudgingly and opened up the topmost drawer. "Why do you have so many pairs of underwear?"

"Why are you looking at my underwear?" Avery smirked over her shoulder, winking at him when she saw the look on his face. "Creep."

"Here." He tossed a pair of mismatched socks at her and closed the drawer before she could say anything else to him. "Now, let's go."

Avery shoved her feet into her socks and boots in hurried motion. She stood up and looked around her bleak room, thinking if there was anything else she needed. She didn't know where they were going so she felt a little bubble of anxiety, that might have actually been indigestion from the questionable tacos the night before, forming. This was the first time she was being let off base and she didn't exactly know what she was supposed to do. She forced herself to appear nonchalant about leaving, straightening her shoulders in a determined way as she walked to her door and walked out, leaving it open for Clint. When it took him a moment to follow her, she peeked back inside, smiling even wider at him despite her apprehension.

"We don't have all day, Clint."

"Shut up, Avery."

* * *

Avery leaned back into her seat on the plane, tapping her heels on the ground. Clint, who had chosen a seat as far away from her as possible, glanced up. She tapped her feet louder when she noticed his eyes trailing down to her boots. She was practically stomping them by the time he snapped at her to be quiet. He went back to ignoring her, which left Avery with no other options for entertaining herself. She wished that, for some odd reason, they weren't leaving base in the first place. She had been stuck in the training wing for two months and had imagined what it would be like when Fury finally sent her out on an assignment hundreds of times. Going to New York hadn't exactly crossed her mind.

Avery had only been to New York once. Her mother had taken them when Avery was ten to go a see a Broadway play. It had quickly backfired when the person sitting next to them had promptly confessed to double homicide during the intermission.

For some reason, New York had never had quite the same appeal for Avery since them.

"We'll be landing in 3 minutes, Sir." Clint stood up. He pulled off his bow and quiver and placed it in the seat he had just vacated. He noticed her watching him with narrowed eyes.

"We'll be blending in."

"Ah. I guess you would stand out with a giant bow strapped to your back." She stood up as well, shaking out her limbs. She felt idiotic for doing so, but she had seen the other agents doing that before sparring practice, so she thought it might be the appropriate thing to do. "Only losers like archery anyway."

His only response was a glare that she was certain he practiced in the mirror.

"I'm kidding, of course."

"There was an incident in New York approximately three days ago involving species unknown. A biological weapon was released in a high population area that led to the partial mutation of police officers and pedestrians in the area. A cure was administered and all negative side effects were reversed within a couple of hours under hospital supervision. Multiple onlookers reported sightings of a large lizard-like creature as well as a man dressed in a red and blue costume shooting webs out of his hands like a spider. S.H.I.E.L.D. has been monitoring the situation over the last couple of months. However, because of recent events intervention is now necessary."

Avery was silent for a moment, taking in all the official sounding information for a moment before she finally spoke. "Wicked."

"What?"

"This is like a real assignment. Like for real. I thought Fury was sending us to stop a particularly rowdy bunch of hooligans from tagging a park bench or something. But, this is like real shit."

Clint blinked at her, seeming to try and decide how to respond to her words before he turned away from her. "Director Fury seemed to think it was time you got out and tested your," He paused, bending down to pick up a small case. "Abilities."

"Oh." Avery instantly felt all her excitement, which had sprung up out of nowhere after Clint told her about their assignment, disappear entirely.

"Oh, what?" Clint seemed hesitant to ask her why she had suddenly switched from being excited to moody in a matter of seconds.

"I'm not going to use my powers."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to. Look last time I did, I got kidnapped by a super-secret agency and haven't been able to go home since. Well, you guys aren't actually that secret, but whatever. The answer is still no."

"That's the reason you're here."

"Really? I thought it was for devilish sense of humor and great smile."

"Fine. I'll just tell Fury that you're refusing to comply. You can go back to the hole for two more months if you want, or you can use your abilities to help S.H.I.E.L.D. and prove you worth all the money and time that's been spent training you so you don't end up spilling secrets that could get you, or someone else, killed, or worse. Now, are you going to stop acting like a child?"

"Maybe we do need to go to the tropics. You could really use some R & R for all that stress and anger you have pent up." When he glared at her, she threw her hands up in a defeated way. "Okay, fine. But I can't guarantee that this will work out in the way you guys hope. I can't control it as good as I like to pretend and if things start to go badly there's no telling what will happen."

"Follow my lead and nothing bad should happen. There will be back up agents around the perimeter just in case things get out of hand."

The plane began to dip, causing Avery, who had very little experience with flying, to stumble. She immediately sat back in her seat, sticking her hands up underneath her legs. She could tell Clint was watching her warily, but she ignored him. As happy as she was to be getting away from base for a little while, she wasn't happy about the reason. She had known that eventually they would ask her to use her powers, but she kept thinking it would be later rather than sooner. Stress made them harder to control and, as a general rule of thumb, she liked to avoid situations that put unnecessary stress on her. There was a reason she had chosen the middle of the New Mexico desert. New York was filled with people and people meant stress and stress meant Avery got to know a lot more about people than she would like. She had tried to avoid using her powers after what had happened with Jane Foster for obvious reasons. Now that she was being asked to use them, and more troubling, keep them under control completely, she wasn't exactly sure what would happen.

Avery was staring at the ground, trying to count her heartbeats, when the plane landed with a soft thud.

"You need to relax." Clint said, drawing her away from her counting.

"I'm fine."

"I've read the transcripts from your instructor. He noticed that when you were under a great amount of stress you have a harder time controlling it." She finally looked up at him, noticing that he didn't look as annoyed with her as he usually did. "If you feel like it's starting to get away from you, tell me. I've had a talk a few people down from the ledge a time or two."

Avery nodded slowly, not entirely sure if she believed him completely. She knew he meant it to sound like he had the situation under control, but she couldn't help but think he had no idea what he was dealing with when it came to her. She allowed him to have his delusions, however, and forced herself to put a smile on her face. "Let's go get that lizard."

"Oh, the lizard is dead. We're going after the spider."

* * *

"We look like pedophiles." Avery said, peering out from behind the bush at the school in front of them. Midtown Science High School looked about as normal as most high schools did. Avery considered herself to be an expert on the matter, considering how many she had attended. She looked over at Clint, expecting to see him responding in some way to her statement. He didn't. He simply kept his gaze on the high school. Avery watched him for a moment longer before she too turned her attention back to the virtually deserted school yard. "You know, I don't think many spiders enroll themselves in high school. I think they're more into things like spin class or weaving at the local community center."

No response.

"Get it? Spin class? Weaving? It's a spider joke."

"Be quiet, Avery."

Avery stuck her tongue out at him, but followed his instructions all the same. She wished he had picked a shadier spot. The sun was beating down on her, making her sweat underneath her leather jacket. She didn't dare take it off, considering Clint had forced her to wear a bullet proof vest over her shirt. While she was thankful that on the off chance they were going to be shot at she would have protection, she wasn't thankful for the heat it added. She was certain by the end of the day she would be stewing in her own stinky juices.

After three hours sitting outside the school, Avery gave up watching the doors. She sat down in the scrubby grass cross-legged, perfectly content with letting Clint keep watch. It certainly wasn't as fun or exciting as she had expected something involving humans of the possible lizard and spider variety to be. In fact, it was quite boring. Clint didn't seem to mind that time was moving at a glacial pace in the hot sun. Avery noticed enough for the both of them and reminded him as much as possible while they sat there.

"Maybe he isn't here. Maybe he broke one of his eight legs."

"Whoever told you you were funny lied to your face." Clint said, glancing over at her. "Of all the spider jokes, you had to go with something about eight legs."

"You didn't seem to understand my other ones so I thought I would dumb it down for you."

"That's very considerate of you."

Avery shifted her position, ignoring how moist her pants were. She was happy that Clint was finally seeming to warm up to her. People usually avoided her after they spilled their guts to her, not before, so the metaphorical shunning she had gotten during her time at S.H.I.E.L.D. had caught her a little off guard. She didn't mind, per say, but she couldn't deny that she liked it when people took the time to actually talk to her, even if it was forced by a certain eye-patch wearing director in this case.

"I know this is probably a stupid question…" Avery started, moving so that she could see the front entrance of the school again.

"There are no stupid questions, only stupid questioners."

"Regardless, we keep talking about spiders and I keep pretending to know what the hell we're talking about so I'll look cool or whatever, but something has been bothering me."

"And what would that be?"

"We aren't talking about an actual spider right?"

"No, we aren't."

"Good, because spiders scare the shit out of me." Avery confessed, wiping some of the sweat on her neck off when her equally sweaty hand. He laughed, which surprised Avery so much she jumped at the sound. She watched him for a moment, half expecting him to be faking, before she joined in in an uncomfortable way.

He looked back at the school, still chuckling to himself, for a moment before he stood up suddenly. Avery, as slow on the uptake as ever, stood up as well, looking around to see what he had seen. He pulled the little box out from under his shirt and opened it quickly. Avery hadn't even noticed he had brought it with him, which was yet another reminder that S.H.I.E.L.D. might be placing a bit more faith in her spying abilities that they should have. The little box held what looked like a dart gun with a few almost lethal looking darts. Clint loaded the darts into the gun before he pushed his way out of the bushes and ran towards the school. Avery stood there, wondering what on earth was happening, before she decided she was probably meant to follow along after him.

That was easier said than done. Clint had about a foot on her height wise and was in substantially better shape. That didn't stop him from sprinting away, following along after a shape that Avery thought looked distinctly human.

Avery struggled to keep breathing as she sprinted after him, determined not to lose him. It was her first time out and about, after the whole Jane Foster incident, and she wasn't about to go screwing it up badly enough to get herself put back into isolation for yet another indefinite amount of time. Clint had chased the person beyond the school grounds and into an area that Avery would have avoided if the situation had been different. The amount of graffiti was enough to make her question the area altogether. She had just about lost them when she came upon Clint holding the person against a wall in a side alley. Avery skidded to a halt and walked over to them, thoroughly embarrassed about how heavily she was breathing.

"You could have told me there would be running involved." Avery wheezed, coming up to stand next to Clint and the unknown person.

"The target was getting away."

Avery looked over at said target, instantly wondering about Clint's ability to pick out questionable looking people in a crowd. Skinny teenage boys certainly didn't seem like the type to be involved with biological agents, dangerous or otherwise. He was tall and looked like he could each a sandwich or twenty and had messy brown hair that just barely brushed the tops of his glasses.

"He's a kid, Clint."

"His name is Peter Parker. In addition to being a high school student he likes to dress up in a costume and swing around New York on webs."

Avery, finally having enough of feeling like she was going to have a heat stroke, stripped off her leather jacket and tied it around her waist. "He's the spider?"

"Who are you?" The kid, Peter, asked. His words seemed slightly slurred, like they were hard for him to say. "What do you want?"

"Why is he talking like that?"

"He shot me with something." Peter said, indignation mixing with the alarm on his face.

"You shot him?" Avery turned to Clint. "He's like twelve."

"Seventeen, actually."

"I wouldn't have shot you if you would've listened to me when I told you to stop running." Clint said, ignoring the way Avery was looking at him. "But that is hardly relevant. I want to know how you got these abilities."

Avery wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. She had thought S.H.I.E.L.D. was a bit shady, but she had never thought they would be the kind to bully children. Apparently, she had been horribly misinformed during her time in isolation.

"Who are you?" Peter asked again, trying to get out of Clint's vice-like grip on his shoulder.

"We work for someone that has noticed you. You made quite a stir with the whole lizard incident, Parker. You have officially made it impossible to ignore you. Now, tell me where you got these abilities." Clint said, still holding Peter by the shoulder.

"No." Avery was afraid Peter was going to say that. She closed her eyes, hoping in a rather foolish way that Clint would just leave it at that. She knew he wouldn't, however.

"Avery, do it."

"I don't really thin…"

"Now."

Peter turned his gaze on Avery, a small amount of fear on his face. He tried to scoot back from her when she stepped forward, but the large brick wall he was being held up against prevented him from doing so. She thought she might have been just as scared as he was. She didn't know what sort of things he was going to say. After all these years, people never failed to surprise and disappoint her with the secrets they carried. Seventeen year olds were no exception. "I'm Avery, by the way." Avery said as a way of stalling. "And I'm really sorry about this." She touched his arm gently when Clint nodded his head towards her. She didn't exactly expect it to work the way Clint wanted. She had made it very clear that she didn't make people tell the truth. She wasn't sure why that was so hard for people to understand. She closed her eyes, trying her best to stay in control as she touched his arm with the very tip of her pointer finger.

"I was bit by a spider and now I can do all sorts of things that should be impossible. It isn't contagious or anything like that."

Avery immediately removed her hand, forcing herself to pull back her abilities.

"What was that?" Peter asked, his face expressing the usual look of violation that most people sported after they realized what Avery had done. "How did you do that?"

"It's not as cool as being able to swing from webs." Avery stepped back, feeling very mean for having forced a kid to spill his secret. "But I guess it has its uses."

"I'll say. How does it work? Do you just touch people and they tell the truth or…"

"Okay, enough chitchat." Clint cut off their conversation before it could go any further. "I'll keep it simple, kid. You made a name for yourself with what happened three days ago. S.H.I.E.L.D. will be watching you from now on. You do anything that hints at being a threat we'll be back for you. Got it?"

"He means that in the least threatening way possible, of course. Because, threatening minors is never cool, right Clint?"

"We'll be in touch, Parker."

"Who are you? Actually, more importantly, who are they?" Peter pointed over his shoulder. Avery followed the line of his hand, not sure what she was expecting to see. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents surrounding the alley seemed like a bit of overkill, considering they were all pointing guns at Peter.

"They have a flair for dramatics, obviously." Avery said, shooting a dry look at Clint, who had finally decided to remove his hand from Peter's shoulder.

"Obviously."

"Alright, enough you two. Parker, stay out of trouble."

He stepped back from Peter and began to walk out of the alley. He waved his hand at the agents, watching them as they all slunk back off to wherever they had come from before he turned back to Avery. "Let's go."

"That's it?" Avery asked, surprised at how quickly they were leaving.

"That's it. He isn't a threat and we've made it clear that if he becomes one, he'll have us to answer to."

Avery tuned back to Peter, smiling at him when she saw how confused he looked. "It was great to meet you, Peter."

"Wait! Before you leave, I have a question."

"Shoot." Avery said, rolling her eyes when she saw the annoyed look on Clint's face at the delay. "The question of course, not webs."

"Funny. But really, how'd you find me?"

"We're able to find anyone. A kid dressing up like a spider is hardly a challenge for us." Clint answered before Avery could open her mouth to respond.

"If it makes you feel any better, they found me even when I wasn't dressing up and swinging around town."

"No, you were just busy stealing classified intel." Clint said sarcastically, sticking the small dart gun into the holster he had strapped underneath his jacket.

"Stealing is a really harsh word."

"Doesn't change the facts."

"Can I go?" Peter asked, cutting across their conversation before it could go any further.

"Yea. You can go." Clint waved his hand, shooting Avery a look out of the corner of his eyes.

"See you around, Spidey." Avery said, earning a scoff from both Clint and Peter.

"It's Spider-Man, actually." Peter said, kicking his skateboard up into his hand. Avery was impressed at his dexterity, considering he was still recovering from the dart. "And no offense, but I don't really hope to see either of you ever again." He threw his skateboard on the ground and ran along beside it before jumping on it and riding it out of the alley and out of their sights. Avery watched him leave, fully aware of Clint marching off in the direction they had come from and leaving her behind.

"Avery."

She turned on her heel, giving the deserted alley one last glance as she jogged to catch up with Clint. He led her back to where they had been dropped off by a car in front of the high school. It took them about ten minute to get back there, thanks in no small part to the amount of students milling about around the school grounds. Avery instantly felt anxious being around so many people and moved a little faster to catch up with Clint. He was walking with purposeful strides, ignoring the looks they were getting from some of the students. He opened the door to the car for Avery when they got back to it, slipping in behind her and slamming the door shut with a loud snap. The cabin was uncomfortably quiet after that.

The driver, the same one who had dropped them off, drove back in the direction of where the plane had left them, in complete silence.

"You were nice to him." Clint said, breaking the silence after what had felt like an eternity. Avery turned her gaze from the window and onto him, surprised at the manner in which he chose to start a conversation.

"I like to think I'm nice so…"

"You wouldn't even make eye contact with me when we first met." Clint reminded her, pulling off his jacket. The cabin of the car was uncomfortably hot and smelled of sweat.

"Well, you picked the wrong time to introduce yourself." Avery said, peering out at the buildings that they passed by.

"You did well. You were able to control it."

"Peter didn't exactly stress me out."

"Fury will be pleased."

"I guess I passed the test then." Avery leaned back in her seat, resting her head against the leather. Her hair stuck to her neck and to the head rest.

"Solid C+ effort."

"Shut up, Clint." Clint only laughed, allowing the conversation to drop, leaving only a comfortable silence instead. Avery peeked over at him, smirking to herself when she saw that he was still smiling. She supposed that it had been a good day. She had been able to control her abilities, which was something that she normally couldn't guarantee. It caused a small amount of hope to build up within her chest. She was always cautious about being hopeful, however.

She always ended up disappointing herself in the end, so she didn't have much faith that this brief period of control would last. They never did.

* * *

**Sorry for the wait in between chapters. School is super crazy and I can really only focus on one story per week. This chapter came out much longer than I anticipated, but I think its better fleshed out. ****I know that the Avengers couldn't in include Spider-Man because of rights issues, but I saw no reason not to include him. I love Peter and I have so may plans for him in this.**

**I posted a Supernatural one-shot that I would love if you guys read and reviewed! Its definitely different than anything Ive ever done before and I would love to hear what you guys think. **

**As usual, thank you for all the king words so far! Keep up the reviews! **


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